Locomotive attachment



n. M. OSVTERMANN.

LOCOMOTIVE ATTACHMENT. 'Arrucmoumin SEPT- I4. I91 1.

1,323,406. Pat ented Dec. 2,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FIG-l FIG-Z Wm (WM B. M. OSTERMANN.

LOCOMQTIVE ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- mi I912.

1,323,406; Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- %1 dam/m1,

UNITED STATES PATENT RUDOLF M. OSTERMANN, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LOCOMOTIVE SUPER- HEATER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

LOCOMOTIVE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 14, 1917. Serial No. 191,386.

certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive Attachments, of. which the'following is a specification.

' My invention relates to locomotives wherein the steam is furnished to the cylinders in a superheated state, and provides means whereby the operating crew may be informed of the temperature of the steam entering the steam chest, and whereby steam is furnished to the valve chests independently of the supply governedby the main throttle. 1

The introduction of the use of superheated steam in locomotive practice has resulted in throttle.

There is as a result of this pumping action a partial vacuum in the cylinder at the moment the exhaust port is opened, so that air from the smokebox enters the cylinder.

With engines using saturated steam this is not a serious matter, as the temperatures are not high; but when superheated steam is used the walls of the cylinder are heated to a high enough degree so that the oil adhering to the walls is oxidized by the air admitted and lubrication is destroyed. One

of the leading purposes of all so-called drifting valves is to prevent this admission of air from the smokebox by supplying enough steam to the cylinderduring drifting so that whenthe exhaust port opens the pressure in the cylinder is about equal to atmospheric Obviously there is a considerable pressure. waste of steam if this is continued after the temperature of the cylinder walls has fallen to a point where'oxidation would no longer occur. It is the purpose of the present invention to obviate this waste.

' This object is attained by the mechanism I illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

.Eigu el r p esents in out ine a 0 in whichtive with the device attached; Fig. 2 shows 1n longitudinal central section one of the valves employed; Fig. 3 shows, partly dia- Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

grammatically, the gage and connected parts 1 with portions of the gage broken away to show the air valve,'the latter in section; Fig.- 4 shows also partly diagrammatically, a modification; Fig. 5.shows the superheater, header, and connected parts, in greater detail; Fig. 6 is another modification. It will be evident at a glance that the figures are not all on the same scale. I

Referring first to Fig. 1, there ishere illustrated the preferred formof my device applied to a locomotive. The locomotive is of any ordinary type equipped with a superheater, and is not modified for the present purpose as far as its structureis concerned. In other words, my device can be applied directly to any existing or new superheater locomotive without-necessitating any modification or redesigning of the locomotive. Steam for my drifting-device is taken from the turret 1 or any other convenient or desired point, and is carried by. pipe 2-27- 2 to the superheater header 3. In the pipe line 222 there are two valves, 4 and 5, which control the steam flow through it.

To permit drifting steam toreach the superheater header both these valves must be open, the closing of eitherinterrupting the v flow completely. Both of the valves operate in response to certain conditions in steam pipe 6, as will presently be explained.

The steam flowing through line 22 2 is delivered by it to the saturated. side 7 of the superheater header, shown more clearly in Fig. 5. In this. figure there is illustrated on an enlarged scale the superheater header 3 and the connected parts" as far as they are of interest for the present purpose. This header and the superheater shown are of the usual type, which is practically standard, and is well known to any one skilled in this art. The header shows the usual twochambers 7 andr8, tothe former I of which steam is delivered in the usual way by the drypipe 9. The superheater elepipes 6 lead from chamber 8' to the steam chests .13, only one steam pipe and steam ,ments or units 10 lie" in the enlarged flues 11, their ends connected with and opening 'into the two chambers 7 and 8. Twov steam differential piston valve.

ordinary operation of the locomotive when the engineer opens the throttle steam passes from'steam pipe 9 to chamber 7, thence throughuni s 10 where it is superheated by the hot gases flowing through the flues 11,

' coming from steam pipe 6 through pipe 15 acts on the lower face of piston 16 in opposition to steam pressure from the turret coming through pipe 2 and acting on the sur- In its upper position, shown in Fig. 2, the valveshu'ts oil communication' between ports 18 and 19, while when the in its lower position, these ports are face 17'.

valve is open.

The valve 4 is'resp'onsive to. temperature in the steam pipe. 21 is the bulb of a prescab.

sure pyrometer of a well known type, 22 be- 'ing the capillary tube connecting the bulb with the indicating instrument 23 in the' The bulb and tube are only diagranimatically indicated'in Fig, 3. 23 is the indicating instrument. Its pointer 24 swings about center 25 in response'to temperature changes of the bulb, thus indicating the temperature on scale 26. described the instrument is of a wellknown commercial type. The following additional mechanism is provided for the present purpose. The pointer 24 carries a cam or are '27. T his is so arranged that at a certain desired temperature of the bulb 21, it comes into operative contact with the extension 28 or valve 29, openmg the valve. When the arc 27 is out of contact with extension 28,

usual construction. 7 I

open position, compressed air is earned to spring 30 closes this valve. controls an airline 31, running, as will be seen from Fig. 1, from the air tank 32 through the indicating instrument 23 to the valve 4. 38 is a reducing valve, bringing down the pressure of the air from the air tank to about twenty five pounds per square inch. The valve 4: is one of the type operated by compressed air and may be of When valve 29 is in valve and opens it. When valve 29 is closed by spring 30, the reduced portion 3A:

of extension 28 lies in the opening through the valve casing and permits the escape of the air in that portion of pipe .31 leading to valve d. Valve 4 will then automatically 2 close.

The operation of this device will now be closed.

, it open.

As far as just This valve 29 readily understood. Let us first assume that the engine is under way, the throttle being open. Steam is flowing through the dry pipe to the header, through the superheater units, back to the header, through the steam pipes,,to the main distribution valves. Pressure from the steam pipe keeps valve 5 The steam flowing through the steam pipes is superheated, and its temperature 's such as to. bring the pointer 24: over to some such position as shown in Fig. 3, and valve 29 is open, which in turn allows air from tanlr32 to reach valve 4 and hold Steam flow through pipe 2 is, therefore, at such times permitted as far as valve 4 is concerned, but is shut off by valve 5.

If now the main throttle is closed and the engine continues to run, as on a down grade, the main engine cylinders work like a pump. at least partially pumping out what some strokes of the piston the pressure in steam pipe 6 will be so-reduced that valve 5 will no longer be held shut by pressure on the lower side of piston 16 and will go to its lower position. This at once establishes coi'nmunica'tion between steam turret 1 and header 3, through pipe 2, since valve a is also open; the chamber '7 of the header, and thence by the usual route to the steam chest. This drifting steam will reach the steam pipe in a superheated state, asthe superheater units retain their heat for sometime after the damper 35 is closed. The flow of thedrifting steam however gradually cools off the superheater'units, since they are receiving no additional heat from without, and when the temperature is lowered to a pro-determined point, valve 29 and as a consequence valve 4 will close, and no more drifting steam will be supplied. The point at which valves 29 and 4 are to close is taken so that the temperature of the drifting steam flowing through the steam pipe, and consequently the temperature of the valve chest and cylinder walls which closely follows that of the drifting steam, is low enough so that no harm will result even if air from the smokeboX enters the cylinders. This, as above pointed out, will be in the neighborhood of the temperature of saturated steam of corresponding pressure, though the exact point will be experimentally determined in practice. 7

As soon 'as the main throttle is again opened, valve 5 will be shut off by pressure from the steam pipe, and in response to the rising temperature of bulb 21 due to the flow past it of the superheated steam, valve a will again open, and conditions are as'in the first place.

' While the above deseribed'is the preferred Steam now flows-through pipe 2 to form of my device certain modifications are evidently possible, such as are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6.

In Fig. 4 the valve e is shown operated by electrical means. The hand 2& instead of actuating a valve makes contact with two points 3636 thus completing the circuit through battery 37 and electromagnet 38. IJhen this circuit is completed and magnet 38 energized its armature 39 is attracted and valve at opened. When contact 36 is broken the valve closes by its own weight. The other parts of the device are as described above.

In the modification of Fig. 6 the pressure pyrometer and indicator are replaced by an electrical pyrometer. This may be, and is here shown as, of usual construction. The hot couple 40 is located in the steam pipe, leads llll connecting it with the binding posts t2 l2. The details of the instrument are not illustrated, as they form no part of the present invention. In response to a rise in temperature of the hot end 40, the

pointer 43 swings toward the right. The.

arrangement is such that when it has swung to the desired position, and as long as it remains there, the bar it, carried by pointer 23, contacts with the two points 36, and completes the circuit through battery 37 and coil 38, actuating armature 39 and opening valve 4:.

By the substitution of the electrical means the principle oi the device is not altered in any way. The valve4 is opened and kept open when and as long as the steam flowing through pipe 6 is above a predetermined temperature. When this temperature is below this point the valve closes. The-operation of the device as a whole is in effect the same as described above in connection with the preferred form.

It will be evident that other modifications are possible. The above is to be taken as illustrative of my device, the invention being that the following claims shall include and cover all variations coming within their spirit.

What I claim is:

1. In a locomotive equipped with a superheater, and having acylinder, a valved conduit adapted to supply steam to the superheater, a second conduit adapted to convey steam from the superheater to the cylinder; thecombination of a by-pass from the' steam space of the locomotive to the superheater,

and a valve in said by-pass responsive to the I temperature of the second mentioned conduit. 7

2. In a locomotive equipped with a superheater, and having a cylinder, a valved conduit adapted to supply steam to the superheater, a second conduit adapted to convey steam from the superheater to the cylinder;

duit adapted to supply steam tothe superheater, a second conduit adapted to conveysteam from the superheater to the cylinder; the combination of a by-pass from the steam space of the locomotive to the superheater, and two valves in said by-pass acting in response respectively to the temperature conditions and to the pressure conditions in said second conduit.

at. In a locomotive equipped with a superheater, and havinga cylinder, a valved conduit adapted to supply steam to the superheater, a second conduit adapted to convey steam from the superheater to the cylinder; the combination of a by-pass from the steam space of the locomotive to the superheater, a valve in said by-pass, automatic means to open it when the steam flowing through the second conduit is at or above, and to close it when 1t 15 below, a predetermlned tempera.

ture, a second valve in said bypass, and automatic means to open it when the pressure in the second conduit is below, and to close it when it is at or above, a predetermined point.

RUDOLF M. OSTERMANN. 

